Discover Melksham, Wiltshire

Melksham, Wiltshire, England: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melksham_town_centre.jpg
Author: Jontibingo


Melksham is a town on the River Avon on the western part of Wiltshire, England. It is about 19 km (12 mi) to the southeast of Bath. With a population of about 23,000 people (2012 estimate), it is the fifth largest town in Wiltshire behind Swindon, Salisbury, Chippenham and Trowbridge.

The history of Melksham goes back to the Anglo-Saxon period, when it developed as a ford across the River Avon. Its name is derived from Old English, and is translated roughly as "milk village".

At the time of the Norman Conquest it was a royal estate. The town was later granted to Amesbury Abbey, and the prioress and nuns held it until 1539. The townsfolk of Melksham had a tradition in weaving, which evolved into a textile industry by the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the 18th century, while the rest of England was opening up coal mines, attempts to find coal in Melksham uncovered instead two springs. These allow the town to develop a spa. Due to its proximity to Bath, the spa of Melksham was not as successful as hoped. Today Melksham is a modern English town with its share of national retail outlets, including Sainsbury, Aldi and Lidl.

Visiting Melksham

From London take the M4 motorway to Junction 17, then continue south on the A350 road until you arrive in Melksham.

Places of Interest in Melksham

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About this website

Thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye. My hobby is to research information about places, and share the information with people on this website. I started this website on 5 January 2003, and since then, have written about over 20,000 places, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore.

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. While I try my best to provide you information that is as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors. Also, as I might not be able to update some information on time, some of these pages may contain outdated information.